


Day 26 - Falling

by fanfictiongreenirises



Series: Whumptober 2020 [26]
Category: DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Introspection, Nightwing: Freefall, Protective Clark Kent, Skydiving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27207997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanfictiongreenirises/pseuds/fanfictiongreenirises
Summary: "Dick had always loved to fly, but somewhere along the way, he’d learned to love falling as well."Alternative Prompt - Falling
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Clark Kent
Series: Whumptober 2020 [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947217
Comments: 22
Kudos: 170





	Day 26 - Falling

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired by Nightwing: Freefall by Peter Tomasi bc i love that comic with my very soul and I've been side-eyeing the falling prompt since I saw it bc it finally gives me a chance to write this =D
> 
> Disclaimer: lines you may recognise are inspired by the comic mentioned above. I don't own DC

THIS FANFICTION IS HOSTED ON **ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN** , WHERE YOU CAN READ IT FOR **FREE**. IF YOU’RE READING THIS ON A DIFFERENT WEBSITE, IT WAS POSTED THERE **WITHOUT** THE AUTHOR’S CONSENT.

Many people, particularly those close to Dick, had often asked him how he could skydive, when his parents had died by falling.

Had Dick been younger, and still new to the forwardness of sympathisers, he may have been surprised by the bluntness of even the ones who knew him, had watched him growing up, had seen him as both Robin and Nightwing.

His answer was simple – to himself, at least.

The clear night’s sky rushed past Dick as he fell. Another skydiving myth was that it felt like plummeting to the ground like a stone. But Dick always had the calculations running in his head of just how long it would take him to reach the altitude where he would have to release his parachute, and he knew how much time it would take for him to crash to the ground if he didn’t.

Every movement of his arms and legs shifted him in a new direction. Dick knew that the initial moment of panicked flailing had definitely had a negative impact on him and his direction – he’d been intending to land in the cornfields of the Kent farm, but now he’d completely lost track of the light he’d been following.

That was no matter, though – the real issue was that he hadn’t told anyone he’d be skydiving to Clark’s family home. There was no safety net for him if the backup parachute also failed.

Dick had always loved to fly, but somewhere along the way, he’d learned to love falling as well. And being in the sky, so many thousands of feet above the rest of the world? It was freeing and quiet in a way that little about his life ever was.

He remembered Clark taking him flying when he’d been a kid, in his first few years as Robin. There’d been something about the strong, iron grip around his body that had made him feel _safe_ , safer than he’d felt in a long time.

Dick had never really associated the sky with his parents’ deaths.

But now, plummeting through the clouds and seeing the ground rushing towards him, the tiny specks slowly becoming recognisable shapes, knowing that he was going to hit the ground at such a speed that he was probably only going to feel it for a nanosecond before he died…

This had been what he’d wanted. Dick had liked this part of skydiving _because_ there was no safety net – the danger had felt real in a way that wearing the Nightwing costume didn’t, anymore. He’d gotten injured in that costume more times than he could count, but there was something about jumping out of a plane as just himself that was exhilarating and terrifying all at once.

Dick had wanted to break the record. He wouldn’t get a chance to do that now. Even if his backup parachute kicked in now, it was far too late.

The worst part was knowing just how this would devastate both Clark and Bruce, and Alfred and Tim and everyone else he knew. There’d been a short time in Dick’s life that he hadn’t cared about that – or at least, he’d overlooked it. It happened to most people in their line of work.

But now, after all that, after the trip he’d taken with Bruce and Tim, there was an overwhelming sense of grief at the thought of dying and leaving them behind. Tim had already lost so much.

He knew that Bruce didn’t really understand – he was very much accustomed to the grim looks that welcomed him every time he would so much as reference skydiving – and that Tim saw it as one of those ‘cool older brother’ things. But in the end, it’d been _fun_ , to be able to have something that was entirely for himself.

Dick couldn’t scream as the ground approached. The panic was rising now, and bracing himself for impact was probably a lot worse than the real thing was going to feel. These were his last moments; wasn’t he supposed to see his life flash before his eyes?

There was nothing.

All he could see through the goggles was the greenness, the rural countryside spread out all around him like an extravagant patchwork quilt. They’d had one, back when his parents had been alive.

Would Dick see his parents now, if he died?

Dick didn’t even know how to brace himself for a fall of this height. Hitting the ground feet first would _suck_ – he’d be able to feel the bones in his feet and legs and then spine all being crushed into a fine dust. It’d be a wonder if he didn’t just explode the moment his body hit the ground.

But the thought of turning himself around so he fell headfirst was _terrifying_. Dick had never done that, not with no intention to right himself again. The thought of it was so final that it momentarily made him physically reel a little.

The slight movement had him veering to the side. Dick had no idea how he must look from the ground – who would find his body? He had identification on his person, for this very reason, but this far into the countryside, and in the middle of the fields at night… when would his body even be found?

And that was all assuming there was anything left of him to consider a body. A fall from this height, with nothing to slow him down, meant that his body would likely be unrecognisable when it impacted with the earth.

Only a second or so left. Dick could feel his heart racing in his chest, his breath coming in fast. There was nothing to stop the panic from setting in, no reason to stop his vision from blurring and—

Something red and blue was there.

Dick felt an iron grip around his body, and then he was being moved forward, in an attempt to prevent his body from still feeling that jerk of direction change. Despite this, despite Superman’s best attempts, Dick still gasped at the sensation of his ribs giving way at the pressure.

He felt them slowing down, and then Clark was placing him on the ground gently, hands running over Dick’s body and the mask he had on.

Dick’s fingers scrabbled to remove it, and once it was off, he took in great lungfuls of air, desperation overtaking his sense of logic. His fingers dug into the soil, the wonderful, cool soil. If Clark hadn’t been there, he thought he might’ve lied down on the dirt and pressed his cheek into it.

That was when the ringing in his ears faded enough for him to make out Clark’s voice.

“You’re alright now,” Clark was saying. He had a concerned look on his face, the worry wrinkles on his forehead deep. “Take your time. I got you.”

 _Thank you_ , Dick wanted to say, but to his horror, he felt very real tears rolling down his face as the weight of what had just happened hit him.

He’d almost _died_.

It was something that he faced countless times as Nightwing. Dick didn’t understand why this was hitting him so differently, or why his limbs were so shaky as they wrapped around Superman’s solid centre as Clark wrapped him in a hug.

His ribs shifted under his skin and Dick took in a sharp, shallow breath, trying not to move. Clark withdrew immediately, now giving him a proper once over with his X-ray vision.

“C’mon,” he said softly. “Let’s head inside.”

Dick grabbed the arm Clark extended and used it to shakily pull himself up. His knees were absolute jelly, threatening to give out on him at any moment.

“It’s a bit of a walk back,” Clark said apologetically. “You landed about five miles away. You can say no, but—”

“It’s fine,” Dick said, forcing a smile. “Get back on the horse immediately, right?”

Clark responded by gently picking up Dick, ascending so smoothly that Dick almost didn’t realise they were up in the air until he looked down. There was no fear, though, and he breathed out a sigh of relief that skydiving probably hadn’t been ruined for him because of whatever had just happened. Clark’s arms, the smell of his shampoo that he’d been using for as long as Dick had known, that weird tangy cologne, these were things that Dick associated so strongly with _safety_ that his heart didn’t even pick up speed.

“Thanks,” Dick mumbled into Clark’s shoulder. “I know I didn’t tell you I was coming, and certainly not like _that_ , so… thanks.”

Clark gave him the lightest of squeezes. “What, you think when something with the same heartbeat as my favourite nephew drops out of the sky, I’ll just ignore it?”

Dick frowned. “I…”

“You thought Bruce put me on your case?” Clark’s voice was light – he’d been through enough of Dick and Bruce’s issues to know where Dick’s mind had been going the moment he’d spoken. Dick didn’t have to say anything for him to continue. “He only mentioned that you’d picked it up as a hobby. Didn’t ask me to look into it or anything. Said something about a world record?”

Dick grinned a little at that. There was an immense and downright giddy relief from escaping near death, and then finding out that Bruce _hadn’t_ gotten Clark to keep an ear out for him.

“By the way,” Clark added, “brace yourself to be bombarded with questions from Jon about this. And Kon’s over, so Tim probably already knows.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading <3<3<3


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